High school volleyball: Beaumont advances to D-II state final (with videos)

Beaumont juniors Courtney Bowman(6), and teammate Kelsey Vallee(2) celebrate the Blue Streaks win over Columbus St. Francis DeSales in the division II state semi-final on Thursday. Beaumont will take on Norwalk in the state championship as part of the Ohio High School Athletic Association's state volleyball tournament, Nutter Center, Dayton on the campus of Wright State University. (Photo By Joe Maiorana/ImpactActionPhotos.com)

FAIRBORN -- Every day in practice, the Beaumont volleyball team is reminded it does not have a banner in the gym.

There are plenty of banners for track and cross country, but not a single one for volleyball.

That could change on Saturday.

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The Blue Streaks defeated St. Francis DeSales in a Division II state semifinal on Thursday, 25-19, 25-14, 17-25, 25-14, to advance to the championship for the first time in school history.

A year ago, the Blue Streaks lost to Columbus Bishop Hartley in a state semifinal. It was their first trip to state in school history. This year, they were not intimidated by the bright lights, big gym and tough opponent. They felt confident going in and they played that way.

"Last year, we came in not knowing what to expect at all," senior libero Marin Jerse said. "We got here to a gym we've never been to before and we were playing against teams we've never played and we knew nothing about.

"Last year, our goal was just to get here. This year, our goal is to win state. I think if we play our hardest and play like we did today, nobody can stop us."

The Blue Streaks (21-7) advanced to the state final against Norwalk, which defeated Kettering Alter in the other semifinal, 25-12, 25-15, 25-18. The Truckers (27-2) upset Padua in the regional final, 3-2. During the regular season, the Blue Streaks lost twice to Padua, their North Coast League opponent.

"All you have to say about Norwalk is they beat Padua," Beaumont coach Pat Royer said. "They are an excellent team. You can tell all of them are very polished. They read very well, and they are very quick."

The Blue Streaks looked polished and quick against the Stallions, who finish their season 26-3.

They won Game 1 led by the hitting of Molly Davet, who finished with 17 kills on 61 attempts. In Game 2, Davet clinched the win for the Blue Streaks by serving six straight, including an ace.

The Stallions fought back in Game 3. They went on a 7-1 run to take a 21-14 lead they never relinquished.

In Game 4, the Blue Streaks closed with a 10-2 run of their own for the victory. Lauren Youngblood and Davet each served four straight.

"We knew they had two sophomore middles, and we thought we had a pretty big advantage with that, so we were trying to get the ball a little bit quicker and a little more in the middle because we knew that was 70 percent of their game," Royer said.

Along with Davet, the Blue Streaks were led by Toni Anderson, who had 11 kills on 34 attempts. Youngblood had nine kills on 26 attempts and Nell Bornhorst added five.

Kelsey Vallee (22) and Katie Siefert (21) led the way in assists. Jerse had 21 digs and Davet contributed 16.

"We've been with Pat for four years and he's wanted a banner so badly," said senior Katie Siefert. "I think in the back of our minds, we are winning for ourselves, but we are also winning for him. We are trying to get him a banner. Every practice, he says, "I'm so tired of all the track banners," so that's our goal."